


When Life Gives You Kittens, Buy Them Pirozhki

by Ravenclaws_do_it_better



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cousins, Corrupt CPS, Domestic Fluff, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Skype, Young Yuri Plisetsky, Yuuri knows Russian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-06
Updated: 2017-03-03
Packaged: 2018-09-22 13:09:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9608870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ravenclaws_do_it_better/pseuds/Ravenclaws_do_it_better
Summary: Yuuri Katsuki wasn't exactly sure how he'd become the guardian of a four year-old. He wasn't even sure how they were related. What he did know was that Yuri Plisetsky is four years old; he has a temper, loves cats, doesn't know English, and would really like to go back to his grandfather.He also knows that he really doesn't want his figure-skating career to end at nineteen years old.





	1. Knock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a knock on Yuuri's door and from there life is very confusing

Admittedly, Yuuri * [1] wasn’t really sure what to expect when he opened the door.

It was a Tuesday afternoon in late March and his competitive season was over for the next several months. So, for now, it was homework and then bad movies with his self-proclaimed Cutest Kohai In The World. He wasn’t really sure how he ended up mentoring the fifteen year-old Thai skater, but he’s also sure that Celestino had something to do with it. At nineteen he was living on his own in a different country and still wondering how he got there.

He was wondering how he got into this situation, too.

“ _Are you Yuuri Katsuki?_ ” the woman at the door asked in quick Russian.

“ _Yes,_ ” he replied back in slower Russian and the strange woman gave a pleased smile. “ _May I ask who you are?_ ”

“ _Yes, I am Nadezhda Alexeev and I’m from…_ ”

* * *

 

That was four-and-a-half months ago. Now, Phichit was sixteen and standing next to him in the airport arrivals’ terminal.

And he still has no clue how he got here.

Apparently, his second cousin once removed had had to be taken from his current guardian due to financial reasons about six months ago. They had then searched for any other relatives that would be able to take him in. His parents and sister had been deemed equally unfit since the inn was struggling and Yuuri was, for some godforsaken reason, the last option.

How a nineteen year-old college student was better than all other options because of MONEY was something that still escaped him but he had accepted it and was focused more on not panicking about his new ward.

He had been busy too. His scholarship had actually paid for food and housing along with tuition, books, and Celestino’s coaching fees. However, he wouldn’t be able to keep his cousin there or use the meal plan to pay for his food (there was also the fact that it only covered a year of food and housing). He’d had no idea where to start, which made Celestino a godsend. His coach was amazing, he had given him a job at the rink over the weekends and helped him find an apartment. He’d also talked to him about what he could do about his skating, his scholarship, and just life in general. In the end, he would only be returning to Japan’s nationals this season since his scholarship required he compete in at least one competition. 

“Hey, Yuuri, is that them?”

Yuuri blinked and glanced over to where Phichit was pointing and saw two people, one recognizably Nadezdha and the other…

Yuri Plisetsky, she had told him. His late great aunt’s step-daughter’s child. Four years old and tiny, with blond hair and a face that scowled around the airport as if it had personally offended him. He couldn’t speak any English, or any language other than Russian actually, which was another reason Yuuri had been chosen according to Nadezdha who was currently clutching little Yuri’s hand tightly as her eyes scanned the terminal for him.

He still had no idea why he was chosen to be the parent to a four year-old.

He raised his hand obligingly before waving and could tell the exact moment her sharp eyes spotted him. She said something to Yuri and though he couldn’t hear her, he assumed it was something about him as scowling green eyes switched from glaring at a bagel shop to glaring at Yuuri as the duo walked towards them.

“ _Yuri, this is Yuuri Katsuki, he’s going to be taking care of you from now on,_ ” Nadezdha calmly told the child who’s glare intensified.

“ _Yuuri?! No! I’m Yuri! He can’t be Yuri too! This is stupid, I want grandfather!_ ” he cried out angrily and Nadezdha frowned.

“ _Your grandfather can’t take care of you anymore, Yuri…_ ”

“ _No! I want grandfather!_ ” Yuri interrupted and Yuuri could see tears forming in his eyes.

“ _Ah, hello Yuri, I’m Yuuri Katsuki like Ms. Nadezdha said. It’s very nice to meet you!_ ” Yuuri interrupts cheerfully and Yuri blinks in shock.

“Ah, Mr. Katsuki, thank you.” Nadezdha sighs, “I’m sorry about him.”

“Oh, no, it’s fine.” Yuuri reassures cheerfully even though it is most definitely NOT fine, “He mentioned something about his grandfather? I remember you said that he was removed from his care before.”

“Ah, yes, Nikolai Plisetsky, he’s financially unable to care for Yuri so he was removed from his custody.”

‘And placed into the custody of a nineteen year-old American college student who is, apparently, more financially stable. How? Why? When people talk about tuition here they’re not exaggerating.’ He thinks to himself but politely doesn’t say it aloud.

“Well, would it be possible for Yuri to remain in contact with him? It sounds like he’s very important to him,” he asks and silently adds ‘and maybe later Yuri will go back to him if he gets in a better place, he’d certainly be better off with someone who knows how to care for him.’

Nadezdha purses her lips disapprovingly.

“We think it would be better for him if he has a clean break from everything, no use of Russian and no contact with his former guardian. However, I can supply you with his email since you asked.”

“ _Hey! Stop talking in weird words! I want grandfather! Where is he?!_ ” Yuri yelled out suddenly, attracting more than just the trio’s attention as other new arrivals frowned disapprovingly at the child.

“ _I’ve already told you Yuri, you’re not going back to your grandfather, you’re staying with Mr. Katuski now._ ”

“ _No-!_ ”

“ _Hey, Yuri, have you ever gone ice skating_?” he hears himself ask the child who blinks up at him again before frowning once more.

“ _Yes! I bet I’m better than you are! I’m going to be an ice-skater one day!_ ”

“ _Ah, how neat! Did Miss Nadezdha tell you that I’m an ice-skater myself?_ ”

“ _What?! No you’re not! I bet you haven’t even won anything!_ ” Yuri accuses and Yuuri laughs again, he opens his mouth to speak when-

“As interesting as this is Mr. Katsuki, I think it might be better if you two got to know each other better later, after we finalize the paperwork.”

Yuri glares at her for speaking English but Yuuri nods agreeably and holds out a hand as he rises from his crouch.

“ _Ready to go Yuri?_ ”

The child examines his hand for a moment before taking it haughtily, Nadezdha letting go of her tight grip on his other hand as he does so. The case-worker led the way out of the airport and Yu(u)ri2 follows after her easily. Phichit makes up the tail end of the group, happily snapping picture after picture on his phone because “you’ll want to remember this moment for the rest of your life Yuuri!”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, welcome to my story. So, I've recently been reading a lot of Yuri!!! on Ice fics and I've noticed a recurring theme. Whenever they do a kid fic, it's always Yurio as the kid and he's always Victor's son/nephew/cousin/brother/etc. Why can't he be Yuuri's? So I decided to do one because I thought it'd be funny. Another way I could've gone would be to make Minami Yuuri's son/nephew/cousin/brother but that's an idea for a rainy day. This chapter is completely unedited and the only reason I'm posting it right now is because I'm trying to practice with my internal links. When I post chapter two (yes, I plan on continuing this fic) I will also go back and edit this chapter to try and make it read a little better. Anyways, thank you for reading and comments are always appreciated luvs.
> 
> ~Miss Claw
> 
> As always, you can find me on my Tumblr at [Ravenclaws-do-it-better](https://ravenclaws-do-it-better.tumblr.com)
> 
> [1]  
> So, I know that in all of the official things his name is spelled Yuri. However, Mari isn't here to give Yurio his nickname so I'm doing that to differentiate between the two for the moment  
> [1] return to story


	2. Emails

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri finally gets Yuri back to his apartment and thinks about the choices he's made and the choices he will have to make in the near future in regards to his new ward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for all of your support on this fic! I wasn't really sure about posting it because it was mainly just me attempting to experiment with internal and external hyperlinks I never expected anyone to actually like it!!! Thank you lovelies, you're the best
> 
> I neglected to mention last chapter, but Italics are generally speaking in Russian unless otherwise specified at the beginning of the chapter. This is to let you, the reader, know that other characters may not be able to understand them. If all characters in the scene speak that language (i.e. there's a scene with both Yu(u)ri(o)s) then I will not italicize it because all characters in the scene will understand each other so there will be no need for it. 
> 
> Also, the links in the fic lead to foot notes on the bottom. The numbers are the links that will get you down there. When you get down there, please click "[return to story]" to get back to where you were. That link will lead you to the asterisk, clicking the asterisk isn't going to get you anywhere. Sometimes these are little research facts I put into the story but really don't need to go into great detail about, things that might be a bit confusing, or just a comment (probably sarcastic) from me the writer. Unless you are confused about something and there's a footnote or you just really want to see all of my notes on this thing they're not really necessary to the meat of the story. Also, there's some logistical calculations that I just couldn't get out of my head so I decided to share them. :|

Three hours later finds the duo alone in their new apartment.  Yuuri looks at the child nervously as he sets him down and puts his suitcase into place in their soon-to-be-shared closet. He’d ended up having to carry him all the way back from the restaurant after he started complaining about his feet being tired. * [1]

For now though, Yuri glares around the single room unhappily.

“So, welcome home Yuri!” Yuuri tries and that glare (it’s not really a glare though, more like a pout but Yuuri can tell it’s meant to be a glare) is immediately turned on him.

“This isn’t my home! I want to go home to grandfather! Why won’t you let me go home?!” he yells and Yuuri just smiles awkwardly (anxiously) at the kid.

“I’m sorry Yuri, but you’re going to have to stay with me for a while. Don’t worry though! I’m sure we’ll have a lot of fun together.”

“This is stupid! You’re stupid! I want grandfather!” Yuri yells and oh god, is he crying?!!!

“Hey, hey Yuri, Yuri, can you look at me?”

How do you make a kid stop crying?!

For lack of knowing anything that might make Yuri feel better, Yuuri tries what usually made him feel better. He kneels down in front of the boy and wraps his arms around him before resting his chin on Yuri’s head. Yuri starts bawling, writhing like he was trying to escape Yuuri’s grasp but burying his face further into his new tissue. Yuuri lets him cry.

He starts to quiet down what feels like ten minutes later and rubs his face all over Yuuri’s shirt to wipe off all of the tears and snot. Yuuri grimaces but allows it, his best friends had triplets the year before he left and he had gotten used to being a human napkin during his time helping them out. * [2]

“Feel better?”

“No, when can I go back to grandfather?” Yuri asks quietly, his voice muffled even more from trying to speak through the shirt.

“I don’t know Yuri, I’m sorry. But, for now, why don’t we give you a bath and you can get in bed. You’ve had a long day and we’re going to go shopping tomorrow to get you some things,” Yuuri answers him just as quietly before pulling him fully into his arms and standing up. “Do you have any pajamas in your bag?”

* * *

 

An hour later and Yuri is sound asleep on their new shared mattress. It was a queen and he was small so they would be able to fit. It was unfortunate but, even working as much as he did ever since he’d found out about Yuri, he hadn’t been able to afford a lot of things. It was cheaper to buy a single queen than it was to buy two twins. They would have to share a short dresser that he’d shoved into the closet, though there was plenty of hanging space at least. He didn’t have a TV or couch because quite honestly they wouldn’t fit with what he’d ended up prioritizing (he wonders sometimes if he should’ve prioritized them instead). There was a small table with three chairs along with two bean bags that were gifts from Phichit. * [3]

After buying all of the little things that would be necessary for everyday life (like pots and pans, a trashcan, a laundry hamper, a bunch of little things he had always taken for granted during his life) he had enough to, hopefully, buy Yuri some new clothes. He’d put all of the boy’s clothes up after he had gone to bed and it certainly didn’t look like he had any clothes suitable for the 100° Detroit could get to in the summer. He also had to get him some toiletries that hadn’t been able to make it through airport security. 

He’d also, guiltily, splurged on something that was just for him.

A ballet barre.

It wasn’t a real one, nor was it attached to a wall. He’d ended up going to one of those chain home repair stores and buying some things to sort of make one with Phichit’s help. He wasn’t sure, with Yuri, how often he’d even be able to get to the _rink_ much less the ballet studio. It had been one of the last things he had gotten, and also the cheapest, but he still felt guilty over it.

Should he have gotten him toys instead? Kids his age liked toys, right?

Maybe he’d ask Yuuko, but she wouldn’t much help either would she? Her girls were two.

Maybe he could ask…

Yuuri quietly stared down at the scrap of paper Nadezdha had given him before she left. He’d had to remind her about it, several times, but now he had it.

Nikolai Plisetsky’s email address.

He wondered if he should really contact the man, Yuri’s grandfather. Maybe Nadezdha was right and Yuri needed a clean break. She did this for a living after-all, right? But the man had raised Yuri, all his life if what Nadezdha had told him was true. He’d know everything about Yuri.

Would he hate Yuuri?

He was the one taking care of Yuri now, after the boy had been taken from him. It certainly hadn’t sounded like Nikolai wanted to give up his grandson. And based on how often Yuri had demanded to go back to his grandfather in the last four hours he got the feeling Yuri hadn’t exactly wanted to leave either.

But, he was responsible for him now, Yuri that is. It was his job to make sure he was happy and healthy and if that meant talking to an old man that probably hated him just so he could make Yuri happy then he would do it. Looking back, he could see all the sacrifices his parents had made for him growing up so he could be happy. Dance lessons, figure skating lessons, coaching for figure skating, the competitions, his dog, his Victor memorabilia. All of it had been very expensive but they still allowed him to do it, to follow his passion and pursue his dreams so he could be happy.

He would honor them by doing the same for Yuri. He might not have expected him, or even wanted him at first, but he was here now and he was his responsibility.

So he would email Nikolai Plisetsky.

* * *

 

Hello, 

Is this Nikolai Plisetsky? If so, please respond as soon as convenient. 

Thank you for your time, 

_Yuuri Katsuki_. 

* * *

 

Yes, what do you want? 

Nikolai Plisetsky 

* * *

 

The response is waiting for him after he steps out the shower. He blinks at the notification on his phone for a moment before picking it up.

* * *

 

Hello, 

My name is _Yuuri Katsuki_ , I’m the current guardian of your grandson and I was wondering if you could tell me about him? 

Thank you, 

_Yuuri Katsuki_

* * *

 

The response that time doesn’t even give him time to dry his hair.

* * *

 

WHERE IS MY YUROCHKA? HOW IS HE? YOU WILL TELL ME THIS INSTANT 

* * *

 

Yuuri stares at the phone for a while, he can almost hear the deep angry Russian voice yelling at him through the text and it makes part of him want to cower away. But, well, the other man isn’t here but Yuri is and…

WHAT IF THIS ISN’T ACTUALLY THE GUY?!

The idea strikes him as if it were lightning. What if it’s some kind of random pedophile he accidentally emailed?!

* * *

 

I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to prove that you’re actually his grandfather before I tell you anything about him. I apologize, but it’s for his safety 

_Yuuri Katsuki_

* * *

 

That is probably the most confrontational things he’s ever done or said and it’s…odd. Apparently he’s much more courageous over text than in real life and he’s not really sure if that’s a good or bad thing. He's not been sure about a lot of things, lately.

* * *

His name is Yuri Plisetsky, he is four years old with blond hair and green eyes. His favorite animals are cats and his favorite food is pirozhki. Now, LET ME SPEAK TO MY GRANDSON BEFORE I HUNT YOU DOWN AND REMOVE YOUR HEAD 

* * *

 

Yuuri gulps as he reads the words. That…is terrifying, but at least he knows that he has the right guy.

* * *

 

I’m sorry Mr. Plisetsky, I just wanted to be sure I had the correct email. Yuri’s asleep though, he just arrived today and he had a few flights so he was tired. He really misses you but he’s doing okay. He’s going to be staying with me for now which is why I wanted to talk to you so I would know how to take care of him better. 

Apologies again, 

_Yuuri Katsuki_

Attached 12 images

* * *

 

Phichit had ended up sending him all of the photos he had taken of Yuri so he had quite the selection to choose from to reassure Yuri’s grandfather that he was okay, along with one he took right before he sent it of Yuri curled up under the blankets clutching at the tiger plush he had brought with him. His phone was silent for a while after that and he decided to use that time to finish getting ready for bed. By the time he shut the bathroom light off his phone finally went off again.

* * *

 

I apologize Mr. Katsuki for getting angry with you. I was just so worried about him and I haven’t been able to sleep properly since they took my boy from me and when you contacted me and told me you had information about him but wouldn’t tell me I suppose my anger got the best of me. I would appreciate it if we could start over. 

Nikolai Plisetsky 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is the second chapter, woohoo! Like I said earlier (if you read the notes ;P) thank you for reading! I really wasn't expecting anything to happen with this fic, it was just something I decided to splurge on. I posted it too early too haha because I was experimenting with hyperlinks. That's why there's so many in this story, actually, because I'm trying to practice with them. If you need a run down of which link leads where I put some info in the beginning notes. 
> 
> Have a good day lovelies!  
> ~Miss Claw
> 
> As always, you can find me on Tumblr at [Ravenclaws-do-it-better](http://ravenclaws-do-it-better.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> [1]  
> So, there is an actual apartment that I researched and found for this story. It's the Cathedral Tower Apartments in Detroit and I'm referencing The Efficiency style. It's a studio apartment that's shaped like a right triangle. In the corner that's a right angle is the bed, at the foot of the bed is the table. The barre is in the triangle portion by the window.  
> [return to story]
> 
> [2]  
> Axel, Lutz, and Loop are, according to the Wiki, 6 years old. Yuuri says he's only been away from Hasetsu for five. This means that there was a year between the twins birth and Yuuri leaving where he lovingly played human napkin. If any of you have experience with young children, you'll know just how true that is.  
> [return to story]
> 
>  
> 
> [3]  
> So, I mentioned last chapter that Celestino got him a job at the ice rink. He teaches beginning ice-skating classes on the weekends. 10 hours on Saturday. Now, I bet a bunch of you are going. What the heck? How can he afford that? Well, it's a mix of irl fact and possibly canon exaggeration and just a sprinkle of bullshit. So, irl ballet instructors make about $22 an hour. This is average according to google but I figured that it's probably similar to what an irl beginning ice skating teacher might make. Now, in canon competitive figure skating seems to be quite a bit more popular than it is irl, comparable to irl. So, they'd probably make a bit more since it's so popular and I decided to go with the magic number $30. Now we get into some good old fashioned fanfiction BS. Unfortunately, even with the exaggeration of what a he might make per hour I still couldn't fit in enough hours in the day for Yuuri to be able to do everything and still function as a healthy human being. Therefore, taxes don't exist. Every man's dream right? Anyway that brings him to about $1200 a month with $540 being rent and no tuition or books or coaching fees because he's on a scholarship. So he walks away with $660 at the end of the month. According to the USDA a child age 5 can be fed with $137.60 and an adult male age 19-50 for 241.80 if they're eating on a "low-cost plan".  
> [return to story]


	3. Pancakes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's first day as a parent starts well!...he thinks.

It was a calmer conversation after that. Nikolai wanted to know everything about Yuuri and how Yuri was doing. By the time an hour had passed he still seemed to have a million questions and the email thread seemed never-ending. Yuuri, however, passed out while waiting for a reply.

When he wakes up again it is late in the morning and Yuri is still asleep, exhausted from jet-lag. He checks his phone and finds no less than twenty emails from Nikolai, seven texts and three calls from Phichit, and a single text from Ciao Ciao. He quickly decides to ignore all of that and instead cook some breakfast.

He has no idea what people in Russia eat but he did know it was different from what he would eat back home. Looking back, he probably should have at least done a google search if nothing else. It was too late for that now though, so instead he begins cooking some American food in hopes that that would be acceptable.

It takes a few minutes to find the cookbook Phichit had talked him into getting when he’d gotten an apartment with a kitchen. He finds it right next to the hand-written binder of Thai recipes that said teenager had emailed his mother for before leaving them at Yuuri’s. Ever since then, Phichit had become even more of a regular presence in Yuuri’s apartment: begging Yuuri to cook him one of his mother’s recipes, stealing some of Yuuri’s Japanese cooking (with recipes Yuuri had stolen from his parents), or playing taste-tester for the older man’s attempts at American food.

In the end, he makes pancakes, fried eggs, and bacon. Kids like sweet things (right?) and Europeans eat bacon and eggs for breakfast (right?!).

Yuri still isn’t awake when Yuuri sits down to eat and he debates waking him for a moment before deciding to let him sleep some more. They didn’t have any concrete plans today, after all. Not to mention he's only four and Yuuri knows from personal experience that the jet-lag is killer.

Yuuri eyes the bottle of syrup that was left over from when he had made pancakes the first time before deciding against it. Phichit had insisted that they needed “the full pancake experience!” when he threw it in the cart. It hadn’t been used since then. No matter how long the two of them were in the U.S. they would never get used to eating something so sweet for breakfast and there were so many other things Phichit insisted on trying for dessert. He wonders if they’re going to be able to do that anymore, what with him suddenly becoming a surrogate father of-sorts.

A few bites in and he starts to hear movement from the bed. A glance at the bed reveals a messy-haired Yuri sitting up and rubbing his eyes with one hand, the other still maintaining a firm grip on his tiger.

“ _Good morning Yuri, would you like some breakfast?_ ”

“ _I want pirozhki,”_ is his answer.

Yuuri has no idea what that is, but he’s pretty sure that Nikolai mentioned it in their emails last night. It was…Yuri’s favorite food? Maybe when he finally got the courage to look through all of his messages and respond he would ask the man about it. He probably had a recipe.

“ _Ah, I’m afraid I don’t have any pirozhki. But, I made_ pancakes _and bacon and eggs, I think you might like it!_ ” Yuuri tries instead but he can tell by Yuri’s pout that’s not going to work.

“ _No, I want pirozhki! Grandfather always makes pirozhki!_ ”

“ _Yuri, I promise we’ll have pirozhki some other time, but right now you should come eat._ ” Well, looks like he’ll be asking Nikolai for a recipe sooner rather than later.

Yuri huffs and crosses his arms over his chest before crawling off the bed and stomping his way over towards the table. Yuuri winces, he really hopes his downstairs neighbors didn’t hear that. Knowing his luck though, they no doubt did.

He easily makes Yuri a plate, cutting the pancakes into pieces and drizzling them lightly with some syrup then pushing the plate towards the boy who slouches in his seat. Yuri eyes the plate dubiously but picks up the fork in the end and slowly stabs a piece of the pancake. He examines it again closely before it even gets close to his mouth and again right before he eats it. But, Yuuri can tell the moment he tastes it. Yuri’s eyes go wide and a grin spreads across his face before he quickly begins to wolf down his food as if he was starving. Yuuri’s just happy he’s eating something.

Yuuri starts to eat again, much slower than Yuri, and a few minutes later small hands shove an empty plate in his face. He blinks at it before leaning to the left slightly to look at the boy.

“ _I want more,_ ” Yuri admits, avoiding eye contact and with a small blush on his face. “ _Please._ ”

“ _I think I can do that_ ,” Yuuri smiles at him and takes the plate happily. At least he knows something that he’ll eat.

Yuri is bouncing in his seat when he gets back to the table and makes grabby hands at it as Yuuri sits down to cut the pancake. He’s on his knees now, watching, and the moment Yuuri puts the knife and fork down the plate is stolen.

“ _Ah, Yuri, I didn’t put syrup on it yet,_ ” he starts but Yuri doesn’t care and instead takes matters into his own hands. The bottle is lifted into the air by sticky hands and swiftly upended over the plate.

It’s like a river.

Yuuri stares as a torrent of the sweet syrup quickly forms a lake on Yuri’s plate, the pancake swiftly becoming a chain of small syrup-logged islands, before instincts kick in and he snatches the bottle away.

“ _Hey,_ ” Yuri whines, but it’s half-hearted at best as he begins work on consuming what is now pancake topped syrup with much gusto.

“ _I think you used a bit too much,_ ” he comments dryly and makes a mental note not to let him pour his own **anything** for the next several years.

Who knew kids could be such a hassle?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wrote a 1600 word paper on fanfiction for one of my classes. College is strange. Children are messy. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter! No ridiculously long and probably unnecessary footnotes this time either!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> ~Miss Claw
> 
> As always, hit me up on Tumblr at [Ravenclaws-do-it-better](http://ravenclaws-do-it-better.tumblr.com/)!


	4. Bath Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Children are very messy. 
> 
> And stubborn

Yuri ends up eating two more pancakes in the time it takes Yuuri to finish eating his food. This time Yuuri is careful to keep the syrup bottle far from his reach and instead move the pancakes around in the lake of syrup still left on his plate.

Yuuri is standing at the sink, methodically making his way through the dishes when he spies a small blond head standing at his elbow, watching him. Yuri glances up to make eye contact and Yuuri watches as he slowly lifts the plate in his hand and slides it into the sink before running off to jump onto the bed. Yuuri stares after him disbelievingly.

How in the world had the kid gotten syrup onto his forehead?

He’d seen it when the kid had looked up, Yuri was practically covered in syrup. Syrup, which was now probably also covering his sheets. His sheets that were on his bed, which he slept in. Sheets he was going to have to sleep in tonight.

‘Shit,’ Yuuri thinks to himself, still watching Yuri blankly. He can see, even from this distance, that some parts of his hair fall oddly almost as if it were stuck together. It was at that moment that Yuri glances up and finds Yuuri staring at him. He turns red and grabs his tiger with probably syrup coated hands and buries his definitely syrup covered face into the toy’s soft fur.

He really hopes you can wash stuffed animals, maybe he would ask his mom.

Robotically, Yuuri finishes all of the dishes and quietly puts them into the collapsible drainer he’d set up by the sink before moving that to the sink. He quietly opens his laptop on the table and easily pulls up facebook.

“Hey, Mari, can you ask Mom if you can wash stuffed animals for me?” He types this into the private messenger and sends it off before turning to look at Yuri, who was watching him warily from his place on the bed.

“Hey, I think it’s time for a bath Yuri,” Yuuri says and Yuri’s eyes widen.

“No! I don’t want a bath!” he yells and Yuuri feels dread start to gather in his stomach, he gets the feeling this isn’t going to go as well as breakfast did.

* * *

In the end, it took him fifteen minutes to catch Yuri, who had taken to running around the apartment in an attempt to avoid the bath. It took him an additional half hour to get him to stop crying and agree to a bath. A further twelve minutes were dedicated to choosing an outfit Yuri would agree to wear. Ten minutes later finds Yuuri sitting in front of the tub trying to coax Yuri to get in.

“The water’s too hot!”

“Okay, we can put some cold water in to cool it off.”

“Now it’s too cold!”

At some point, even Yuuri’s near infinite patience runs out and he pulls the plug on the bathtub, letting the water drain out. He faux-calmly turns the taps on again, ignoring Yuri’s attempt at a smug expression, and waits for the water to warm up before switching it to the shower faucet. He ignores as Yuri’s expression turns confused, then shocked as he undresses and steps under the water. It wasn’t as warm as he would have liked it, he liked his water hot, probably a result of growing up in a hot spring, but he figures that his normal temperature would likely be too hot for the kid. Yuuri ignores Yuri and starts to work conditioner into his hair. He continues to ignore Yuri’s growing frustration as he rubs soap onto his wash cloth.

“Fine! I’ll take a dumb bath,” Yuri finally says.

Yuuri, quite calmly if he does say so himself, pushes the shower curtain aside to invite the kid in.

“No! I want a bath!”

“We’ll have a bath later but for right now we’re taking a shower.”

“But I don’t want a shower, showers are dumb” he whines.

“Ah, that’s right, I forgot, showers are only for big kids. Okay Yuri, I’ll get out and start the bath for you.” Yuuri had overheard several parents use this kind of logic on their children before. He really hoped it was as effective on Yuri as it had been on all of them.

It is, and Yuri immediately puffs up in embarrassed anger, “I’m a big boy! I wanna take a shower!”

“Are you sure? I don’t mind getting the bath ready for you,” ‘again’ he adds in his mind rather snidely. But, Yuri’s a kid and kids are difficult, so says Yuuko from the last time they’d talked to each other. Yuuri was just glad he missed Yuri’s “Terrible Two’s”.

“I’m a big boy! Grandpa said so! I can take a shower!”

For some reason, Yuuri gets the feeling that he’s going to regret this soon.

* * *

Somehow, the shower leaves Yuuri even more exhausted when he gets out than when he got in. Yuri had gotten into everything: dropping the soap at least three times as he tried to mimic Yuuri’s actions in rubbing it into his own wash cloth, playing with Yuuri’s razor (nearly giving Yuuri a heart attack in the process), and managing to spray shaving cream **everywhere**. There was also the small mishap where Yuuri hadn’t realized he was going to need to tell Yuri to tip his head back when he rinsed the shampoo out, leaving the four year-old to scream bloody murder when he inevitably got it in his eyes.

Finally, they were both clean and dry. It was one o’clock in the afternoon and all Yuuri wanted was to go back to bed. But, his sheets were dirty, courtesy of Yuri, and he needed to wash them and probably Yuri’s tiger too.

Yuuri stares tiredly at the clock before beginning to fix at least some of those problems. A google search reveals that stuffed animals can be washed (it’s five o’clock in the morning in Japan, he wasn’t sure why he had been expecting an answer) so the bed is quickly stripped and the tiger is placed precariously on top of the basket.

“Hey, that’s my tiger!”

“He’s dirty, I’m just going to wash him and then you can have him back,” Yuuri tries to reason with him.

It fails.

“No! I want him now!”

Yuri lunges for the basket but Yuuri is almost five times his age and quickly lifts it to rest lightly on Yuuri’s head. Yuri tries to reach for it, jumping desperately to no avail. Yuuri sighs and begins to make his way around the apartment.

Laundry detergent, fabric softener, drier sheets?

Check, check, check.

As he grabs each item he lifts them into the basket one-handedly, the other too busy keeping it balanced to be any help.

Phone, keys, wallet.

Also check, check, check.

He slides the phone and wallet into his pocket before turning, keys in hand, to the kid.

“Okay, grab a toy and let’s go, we’re going to be there for a little bit.”

“No! I want my tiger!”

That is, of course, the moment Yuuri realizes something.

Yuri didn’t actually have any other toys.

Yuuri had checked the night before while talking to Nikolai. He’d been putting Yuri’s clothes away while he was asleep in order to do it without distraction. It was why Yuuri had been planning on going shopping today, for clothes and toys at one of the second-hand shops.

“ _Looks like that’s not happening today_ ,” he mutters in English.

“Stop using weird words!” Yuri shouts.

Yuuri thinks for a moment, they need to get this washed quickly if he wants to get anything else done today, “Yuri, tiger needs to take a bath too so he’s clean just like we are.”

“Huh? Why didn’t he take a bath with me then?”

Yuuri needs to come up with something quick, Yuri’s considering the idea and if he doesn’t think of something **now** he’s going to get another tantrum.

“Tiger soap! There’s special tiger soap that he needs to use so he can get all clean just like we used human soap in the shower!”

Yuuri wonders if he should feel bad about lying to Yuri but he looks like he’s accepted this complete and utter bull so…

“Fine, let’s go.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is unedited. Yeah, I'll go back later and fix it but right now I need to write an entire paper in like two and a half hours because PROCRASTINATION but anyways. I hope you enjoyed this!
> 
> As always thanks for reading  
> ~Miss Claw
> 
> Feel free to come bug me at [Ravenclaws-do-it-better](http://ravenclaws-do-it-better.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr


	5. Skype

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nikolai Plisetsky is willing to do a lot of things. 
> 
> He is not willing to disappoint his grandson.

Yuri is very attached to his tiger, evidenced in the way he clings to it as Yuuri puts the sheets back on the bed. While they were downstairs Yuuri had managed to get something else that was on his list checked off before Yuri had gotten too bored and needed entertainment.

“Hey Yuri, do you want to talk to your grandfather?”

* * *

 

Moscow was eight hours ahead of Detroit and it had been six in the morning when Yuuri sent his first email. The man had then called in sick to work and spent the next hour talking to Yuuri, then two hours after that getting more and more frustrated when he stopped responding before he finally searched for the time difference between them and found that it was late.

That was when he’d gotten an idea.

It could never be said that Nikolai Plisetsky wasn’t a man who loved his grandson. He’d worked so hard while he had him to try and care for him, though he always made sure to spend time with him. After Yuri had been taken from him he had started working almost twice as many hours, trying to save up enough to be able to hire a lawyer and get his grandson back. On the morning Yuuri Katsuki had contacted him Nikolai had felt something that might be called hope. He would be able to talk to his grandson again. He had been able to see him again, even if it were only in pictures sent by a man he didn’t know.

When he had figured out why Yuuri had stopped responding he had taken to scanning through the emails he had already been sent, reading through the words about his grandson like a man possessed. That was when he’d spotted it. Skype. Yuuri had mentioned it as a way to talk to his grandson but he had no idea what it was. But, if Yuuri thought it would let him speak to his Yurochka then by god he would become an expert if it killed him.

Skype, he found, was a way that would let him talk to Yuri, look at him, see his face, hear his voice for much cheaper than if he used a cell phone. He thinks he might have cried then. He would need things, expensive things, but he’d been saving up money for six months for a lawyer and he knew he’d have enough. Nikolai looked back at the email; Yuuri already had everything necessary, so all that was left was for Nikolai to set things up on his end.

He had to do it quickly, what if Yuuri told his boy about Skype? About how he would be able to talk to his grandfather and see his grandfather only for his little grandson to be so disappointed when Nikolai failed him because he didn’t have the necessary equipment.

Nikolai would **never** disappoint Yuri again.

When Yuuri emailed him again it was late and Nikolai might have been angry at him for taking so long, but he came with stories of Yurochka and _pancakes_ * [1] and showers and how much he loved the little tiger Nikolai had given him before he had been taken so he forgave the boy (if his heart hurt because he had missed all these little things, all these special moments with his grandson he never said anything, he had to be strong for Yuri who was so lost and confused in this land of people who spoke “weird words”). He told Yuuri about what he had rushed out to purchase that day and if he cried when Yuuri promised to call him and helped him through the process of setting up the camera and an account then no one was around to see it at least.

He didn’t cry at the moment the image came through and, for the first time in six months, he was able to watch his grandson’s face light up in excitement at the sight of him and hear his voice, garbled though it was through the connection, call out.

“Grandpa!”

* * *

 

Yuuri made himself scarce as soon as the image cleared up and Yuri’s ecstatic greeting was returned. He quietly slipped into the bathroom, phone in hand, and finally got around to answering everyone else.

A text to Ciao Ciao to reassure him that Yuuri was okay. A quiet call to Phichit as he observed Yuri through the crack of the bathroom door. Phichit asked if he could come over to meet Yuri again when he was well-rested (and only maybe to steal some of Yuuri’s cooking) but Yuuri denied him this. There was enough going on in Yuri’s life right now and he didn’t want to overwhelm the poor kid. The call ended with a promise from Phichit to look for stores Yuuri could take Yuri to the next day and Yuuri quietly sat in the bathroom afterwards.

Yuri was still chattering excitedly to Nikolai about everything, he was on to the “weird sweet thing” they’d had for breakfast while Nikolai listened attentively, responding in just the right moments to keep Yuri talking. It was impressive and not for the first time Yuuri wished that Yuri had been able to stay with Nikolai, he clearly was a better guardian for him money be damned. Nikolai clearly knew how to take care of children, knew how to take care of **Yuri** and Yuri obviously loved him very much. He was clearly preferable to the kid who had spent an hour trying to get Yuri into a bath. Who wasn’t even smart enough to know not to let Yuri serve himself and ended up lying to him to get him to go along with washing the tiger.

Yuuri is a mess, he only hopes that he doesn’t end up dragging Yuri down with him.

He jumps as a pounding sounds on the door. Opening it up he peers outside to find Yuri glaring (pouting) up at him through his bangs. The laptop sits open on the table, the man who is apparently Yuri’s grandfather watching the proceedings with sharp judgmental eyes (he might have just been watching Yuuri like that though). But, his attention is recaptured as Yuri opens his mouth.

“Grandpa wants to talk to you,” is all he says before turning around and running back to plop down in front of the laptop again. Yuuri blinks before nervously making his way out of the bathroom to stand behind Yuri.

“Ah, Gospodin* [2] Nikolai, it’s nice to officially meet you,” Yuuri starts with a bow, “Thank you for responding to me yesterday.”

The older man frowns and **oh god, he hates him doesn’t he? He stole his grandson after all oh god, what if…**

“There’s no reason to be so scared boy, I’m not going to bite. Even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to through the screen.” Nikolai laughs at his own joke and Yuuri joins in nervously.

“But I thought biting was bad,” their eyes are drawn to Yuri who is looking adorably confused at the exchange.

“It is bad Yurochka, which is why I am not biting.”

“Ooooh,” the light of understanding glimmers in the blond’s eyes and a smile dances across his face, “I get it.”

Nikolai looks so happy, just staring at Yuri as if he were the most important thing in his life. But then those eyes turn to him and harden, freezing the blood in his veins at the same time.

“So, has my little Yurochka behaved himself?” the question is addressed to Yuuri, but that isn’t who answers.

“Yes! I’ve been good Grandpa! Can I come home now? I promise I’ll be extra extra good! I won’t even yell anymore!”

Yuuri doesn’t mention how Yuri is yelling now, ignoring it in favor of staring at the tears gathering in his eyes.

“I’m sorry Yurochka,” Nikolai’s voice is different and a glance reveals that his eyes are riveted on the tears slowly slipping down Yuri’s face at the denial. “I know you can be very good, but there’s some people who think your old Grandpa’s been bad.”

“That’s stupid! They’re stupid! Grandpa’s the best, I want to go home!”

Yuri is really crying now. Nikolai looks like he would very much like to come over and either murder someone or hug Yuri. Yuuri, in an unsurprising juxtaposition to the others, is internally freaking out at the boy’s tears even as he wraps his arms around him once more. It seemed to help the last time, so maybe it would help now? (He really hopes so)

Yuri doesn’t even pretend to fight against his grasp, instead breaking down completely into Yuuri’s chest. Yuuri is staring wide-eyed at Nikolai, hoping, begging, pleading that the man would know what he should.

But, Nikolai just observes him quietly as he runs a soothing hand up and down Yuri’s back in an attempt to calm the boy. Yuuri wises he would be more help, then he internally scolds himself. Nikolai was going through a hard time too, Yuuri couldn’t just expect him to offer all of his knowledge on Yuri to the man who stole his grandson from him. Maybe, if Yuuri failed really badly, they would realize their mistake in giving Yuri to Yuuri and would take him away to return to Nikolai.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh look, we finally got to use that tag! So proud of myself. Anyways, I'm actually really mad because this has pretty much been sitting on my laptop for like two weeks but I didn't post it because I didn't realize it was complete. I was originally planning on adding some more but I finally got around to rereading it today and it had reached a natural sort of ending point. Anyways, I'm really bad at schedules so I apologize but I do thank you for reading and I would really appreciate your reviews, I always reply (just not in a timely manner).
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Ciao Ciao  
> ~Miss Claw
> 
> [1]  
> So, there are pancakes in Russia, but you need to remember something here. At this point in time, they're communicating solely in Russian. Yuuri doesn't know how to say "pancakes" in Russian so instead he typed it in English and that's all Nikolai knows about it.  
> [return to story]
> 
> [2]  
> Pretty much a very formal way of saying Mister, there's a reason why I specified he used Gospodin here and not in the first chapter if you'd like to know.  
> So, according to my extensive ~~half hour of~~ research before 1917 Russia had a strict class system which held a lot of weight in their terms of address. Then, it got dismantled and three new common terms of address rose up: Comrade, Gospodin, and Citizen. Gospodin was seen as for educated men (and therefore offensive for some reason?) and so it fell out of use leaving Comrade and Citizen. Well, post-Soviet Russia didn't like Comrade anymore because it has a lot of allusions to the Soviet Union. Citizen is highly formal so nowadays people usually address each other as "Young Man" and "Girl" which is how the social worker addressed Yuuri in Ch 1 but I just put Mister because Young Man sounds weird in English. But, Gospodin (Mister) has made a sort of comeback, but only in official situations.
> 
> TL; DR Yuuri used a form of Russian address when he first spoke to Nikolai face-to-face that was usually only used in official situations because he is a nervous precious cinnamon roll. In Ch 1 the social worker used a less formal form that translated weird so I just left it mister even though it didn't translate that way.  
> [return to story]


End file.
